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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Why Black Face Still Bothers Some

Julianne Hough as "Crazy Eyes."

Julianne Hough started a ripple in the social media waters when she appeared in "tanned face" at a Halloween party. In her attempt to portray a character from "Orange is the New Black," she decided to go the "extra mile." The character, "Crazy Eyes," is known for her eyes and her hair. However, Julianne thought it was important (for reasons unknown) to also capture her skin color.

Big mistake.

You can't do things like that, even in 2013. As long as there are people still on this planet who lived prior to Civil Rights being granted to black people, then there will not be a shortage of pissed off minorities. Although I view her outfit as being stupid more than I do racist, my father (born in 1941) would be furious. He grew up during a time when he wasn't even respected as an equal.

I think the idea to do this is stupid because she had to know people would flip out over this. And if she didn't know, then that just shows her ignorance when it comes to the real world. I'm guessing that she doesn't have that proverbial "black friend" who could have told her this would be a bad idea and a media nightmare.

Now, although her tanned look is mild at best, there is a reason why black face still bothers some. It's still a sign of disrespect to a lot of people in this country. When black people dress up for Halloween, how many of us have you ever seen put on "white face" to be Batman or Indiana Jones. When is the last time you saw a black person use eye makeup to be Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee? Odds are you probably haven't.

And it's not just a black / white thing either. It's sometimes a black / black thing. Most blacks also get upset when people who aren't white change their appearance to look white. See Sammy Sosa and Michael Jackson.

We're a long way off from this not being a big deal. With insensitive idiots like the below (portraying Trayvon Martin) still displaying foolishness, people who think this isn't a big deal can maybe understand where some of the rage originates.

Do you think that it's time to "get over" black face or is it still a problem in America?